Bone-eating
            Osedax
            worms lived on Mesozoic marine reptile deadfalls

We report fossil traces of Osedax , a genus of siboglinid annelids that consume the skeletons of sunken vertebrates on the ocean floor, from early-Late Cretaceous (approx. 100 Myr) plesiosaur and sea turtle bones. Although plesiosaurs went extinct at the end-Cretaceous mass extinction (66 Myr), chelonioids survived the event and diversified, and thus provided sustenance for Osedax in the 20 Myr gap preceding the radiation of cetaceans, their main modern food source. This finding shows that marine reptile carcasses, before whales, played a key role in the evolution and dispersal of Osedax and confirms that its generalist ability of colonizing different vertebrate substrates, like fishes and marine birds, besides whale bones, is an ancestral trait. A Cretaceous age for unequivocal Osedax trace fossils also dates back to the Mesozoic the origin of the entire siboglinid family, which includes chemosynthetic tubeworms living at hydrothermal vents and seeps, contrary to phylogenetic estimations of a Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic origin (approx. 50–100 Myr).

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Manta-like planktivorous sharks in Late Cretaceous oceans

Science ◽

10.1126/science.abc1490 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 371 (6535) ◽

pp. 1253-1256

Author(s):

Romain Vullo ◽

Eberhard Frey ◽

Christina Ifrim ◽

Margarito A. González González ◽

Eva S. Stinnesbeck ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Cretaceous ◽

Ecological Niche ◽

Body Plan ◽

Filter Feeding ◽

Late Mesozoic ◽

Marine Deposits ◽

Pectoral Fins ◽

Early Late

The ecomorphological diversity of extinct elasmobranchs is incompletely known. Here, we describeAquilolamna milarcae, a bizarre probable planktivorous shark from early Late Cretaceous open marine deposits in Mexico.Aquilolamna, tentatively assigned to Lamniformes, is characterized by hypertrophied, slender pectoral fins. This previously unknown body plan represents an unexpected evolutionary experimentation with underwater flight among sharks, more than 30 million years before the rise of manta and devil rays (Mobulidae), and shows that winglike pectoral fins have evolved independently in two distantly related clades of filter-feeding elasmobranchs. This newly described group of highly specialized long-winged sharks (Aquilolamnidae) displays an aquilopelagic-like ecomorphotype and may have occupied, in late Mesozoic seas, the ecological niche filled by mobulids and other batoids after the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary.

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Large predatory marine reptiles from the Albian–Cenomanian of Annopol, Poland

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s0016756815000254 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 153 (1) ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

NATHALIE BARDET ◽

VALENTIN FISCHER ◽

MARCIN MACHALSKI

Keyword(s):

Late Cretaceous ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Marine Ecosystems ◽

Marine Reptiles ◽

Marine Reptile ◽

Early Late ◽

Temporal Extent

AbstractDuring the Early–Late Cretaceous transition, marine ecosystems in Eurasia hosted a diverse set of large predatory reptiles that occupied various niches. However, most of our current knowledge of these animals is restricted to a small number of bonebed-like deposits. Little is known of the geographical and temporal extent of such associations. The middle Albian – middle Cenomanian phosphorite-bearing succession exposed at Annopol, Poland produces numerous ichthyosaurian and plesiosaurian fossils. These are mostly isolated skeletal elements (e.g. teeth, vertebrae), but disarticulated partial skeletons and an articulated, subvertically embedded ichthyosaur skull are also available. The following taxa are identified: ‘Platypterygius’ sp., cf. Ophthalmosaurinae, Ichthyosauria indet.,Polyptychodon interruptus, Pliosauridae indet., Elasmosauridae indet. and Plesiosauria indet. The large-sized ichthyosaur ‘Platypterygius’ and the pliosauridPolyptychodon interruptuspredominate within the upper Albian – middle Cenomanian deposits. The Annopol record, combined with data from England, France and western Russia, suggests that ‘Platypterygius’ andPolyptychodon interruptusformed a long-term, stable ecological sympatry in marine ecosystems of the European archipelago, at least during the Albian – middle Cenomanian. In addition, the marine reptile assemblage from Annopol is distinct from other Eurasian ecosystems in containing also elasmosaurids in its Albian portion.

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LATE CRETACEOUS MARINE ARTHROPODS RELIED ON TERRESTRIAL ORGANIC MATTER AS A FOOD SOURCE: GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE COON CREEK LAGERSTÄTTE IN THE MISSISSIPPIAN EMBAYMENT

10.1130/abs/2016am-286933 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew B. Vrazo ◽

◽

Aaron F. Diefendorf ◽

Brooke Crowley

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Late Cretaceous ◽

Food Source ◽

Terrestrial Organic Matter ◽

Geochemical Evidence

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PRELIMINARY LOOK AT TRACE FOSSILS IN THE LATE CRETACEOUS COLERAINE FORMATION; HILL ANNEX STATE PARK, CALUMET, MINNESOTA

10.1130/abs/2017ne-291026 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jason J. Korf ◽

◽

John Westgaard ◽

H. Douglas Hanks ◽

Steve Willging

Keyword(s):

Late Cretaceous ◽

Trace Fossils

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MARINE REPTILE FOSSILS FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS (CENOMANIAN) COLERAINE FORMATION OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA (USA)

10.1130/abs/2020nc-348177 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander Hastings ◽

◽

John Westgaard ◽

H. Douglas Hanks

Keyword(s):

Late Cretaceous ◽

Marine Reptile

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Isolated pliosaurid teeth from the Albian–Cenomanian (Cretaceous) of Annopol, Poland

Acta Geologica Polonica ◽

10.1515/agp-2017-0018 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 67 (3) ◽

pp. 393-403 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Daniel Madzia ◽

Marcin Machalski

Keyword(s):

Cross Section ◽

Late Cretaceous ◽

Type Species ◽

Late Jurassic ◽

Morphological Variability ◽

Original Material ◽

Tooth Crown ◽

Similar Morphology ◽

Faunal Turnover ◽

Early Late

AbstractBrachauchenine pliosaurids were a cosmopolitan clade of macropredatory plesiosaurs that are considered to represent the only pliosaurid lineage that survived the faunal turnover of marine amniotes during the Jurassic- Cretaceous transition. However, the European record of the Early to early Late Cretaceous brachauchenines is largely limited to isolated tooth crowns, most of which have been attributed to the classic Cretaceous taxon Polyptychodon. Nevertheless, the original material of P. interruptus, the type species of Polyptychodon, was recently reappraised and found undiagnostic. Here, we describe a collection of twelve pliosaurid teeth from the upper Albian-middle Cenomanian interval of the condensed, phosphorite-bearing Cretaceous succession at Annopol, Poland. Eleven of the studied tooth crowns, from the Albian and Cenomanian strata, fall within the range of the morphological variability observed in the original material of P. interruptus from the Cretaceous of England. One tooth crown from the middle Cenomanian is characterized by a gently subtrihedral cross-section. Similar morphology has so far been described only for pliosaurid teeth from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Even though it remains impossible to precisely settle the taxonomic distinctions, the studied material is considered to be taxonomically heterogeneous.

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Depositional setting and limiting factors of early Late Cretaceous glaucony formation: implications from Cenomanian glauconitic strata (Elbtal Group, Germany)

Facies ◽

10.1007/s10347-021-00627-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 67 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Markus Wilmsen ◽

Udita Bansal

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Time Scales ◽

Late Cretaceous ◽

Limiting Factors ◽

High Accumulation ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Facies Types ◽

Facies Succession ◽

Early Late

AbstractCenomanian strata of the Elbtal Group (Saxony, eastern Germany) reflect a major global sea-level rise and contain, in certain intervals, a green authigenic clay mineral in abundance. Based on the integrated study of five new core sections, the environmental background and spatio-temporal patterns of these glauconitic strata are reconstructed and some general preconditions allegedly needed for glaucony formation are critically questioned. XRD analyses of green grains extracted from selected samples confirm their glauconitic mineralogy. Based on field observations as well as on the careful evaluation of litho- and microfacies, 12 glauconitc facies types (GFTs), broadly reflecting a proximal–distal gradient, have been identified, containing granular and matrix glaucony of exclusively intrasequential origin. When observed in stratigraphic succession, GFT-1 to GFT-12 commonly occur superimposed in transgressive cycles starting with the glauconitic basal conglomerates, followed up-section by glauconitic sandstones, sandy glauconitites, fine-grained, bioturbated, argillaceous and/or marly glauconitic sandstones; glauconitic argillaceous marls, glauconitic marlstones, and glauconitic calcareous nodules continue the retrogradational fining-upward trend. The vertical facies succession with upwards decreasing glaucony content demonstrates that the center of production and deposition of glaucony in the Cenomanian of Saxony was the nearshore zone. This time-transgressive glaucony depocenter tracks the regional onlap patterns of the Elbtal Group, shifting southeastwards during the Cenomanian 2nd-order sea-level rise. The substantial development of glaucony in the thick (60 m) uppermost Cenomanian Pennrich Formation, reflecting a tidal, shallow-marine, nearshore siliciclastic depositional system and temporally corresponding to only ~ 400 kyr, shows that glaucony formation occurred under wet, warm-temperate conditions, high accumulation rates and on rather short-term time scales. Our new integrated data thus indicate that environmental factors such as great water depth, cool temperatures, long time scales, and sediment starvation had no impact on early Late Cretaceous glaucony formation in Saxony, suggesting that the determining factors of ancient glaucony may be fundamentally different from recent conditions and revealing certain limitations of the uniformitarian approach.

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Radiolarian assemblages of Middle and Late Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) ages from an olistolith record pelagic deposition within the Bornova Flysch Zone in western Turkey

BSGF - Earth Sciences Bulletin ◽

10.2113/gssgfbull.183.4.307 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 183 (4) ◽

pp. 307-318 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Ugur Kagan Tekin ◽

M. Cemal Göncüoglu ◽

Seda Uzuncimen

Keyword(s):

Late Cretaceous ◽

Middle Jurassic ◽

Late Jurassic ◽

Western Turkey ◽

Oceanic Basin ◽

Platform Margin ◽

Lowermost Part ◽

Early Late ◽

Radiolarian Assemblages

Abstract The Bornova Flysch Zone (BFZ) in NW Anatolia comprises several olistoliths or tectonic slivers, representing various parts of the Izmir-Ankara ocean. Radiolarian assemblages extracted from one of the olistoliths of the BFZ, cropping out along the Sögütlü section, to the NE Manisa city, were studied in detail. The lowermost part of the section contains latest Bajocian – early Callovian radiolarian taxa, followed by radiolarian assemblages indicating Late Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) ages. Previous studies reveal that the Izmir-Ankara oceanic basin was initially opened during late Ladinian – early Carnian. The new radiolarian data obtained from this olistolith reveals that relatively condensed, and possibly more or less continuous, pelagic sedimentation took place during the late Middle Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous in a non-volcanic oceanic basin closer to the Tauride-Anatolide platform margin.

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An early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) sturgeon (Acipenseriformes) from the Dunvegan Formation, northwestern Alberta, Canada

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjes-2014-0052 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 51 (7) ◽

pp. 677-681 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Matthew J. Vavrek ◽

Alison M. Murray ◽

Phil R. Bell

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Late Cretaceous ◽

Recent Survey ◽

Peace River ◽

Northern Regions ◽

Early Late

A recent survey of the middle Cenomanian Dunvegan Formation along the Peace River, Alberta, has yielded a partial skull of a large acipenseriform fish. The fossil was from an animal approximately 5 m in length, based on comparisons with living relatives. Though incomplete, this represents an important record of mid-Cretaceous fish from northern North America, as formations of this age are virtually unexplored in northern regions. This fossil is the oldest acipenserid from North America, and one of the most northerly known.

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